Human Milk Pumping Rates of Mothers of Singletons and Mothers of Multiples

Rates of breastfeeding are increasing, but the methods by which human milk is fed to infants is not well described. Using a retrospective survey design, the authors collected information about infant feeding from mothers of term, preterm, singleton, and multiple-gestation infants (n = 346). Human milk feeding methods were characterized as solely at the breast, pumped only, or a combination. Sixty-eight percent of mothers in the study fed their infants at least some human milk; 77% of these mothers reported pumping milk. There was no difference in the percentage of pumping based on multiple gestation or length of pregnancy. Feeding human milk solely at the breast at early postpartum time points was associated with longer durations of human milk feeding overall. More research is needed to better understand why mothers choose pumping over direct human milk feedings and to evaluate the health outcomes associated with this practice. J Hum Lact. 21(4):413-420.

[1]  J. Bitman,et al.  Lipases and Lipids in Human Milk: Effect of Freeze-Thawing and Storage , 1984, Pediatric Research.

[2]  J. Martin,et al.  Births: final data for 2002. , 2003, National vital statistics reports : from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System.

[3]  J. Khoury,et al.  Comparison of feeding among multiple birth infants. , 2004, Twin research : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies.

[4]  N. Minich,et al.  Correlates of lactation in mothers of very low birth weight infants. , 2002, Pediatrics.

[5]  C S Berkey,et al.  Reproducibility and validity of maternal recall of pregnancy-related events. , 1999, Epidemiology.

[6]  A. Ryan,et al.  The resurgence of breastfeeding in the United States. , 1997, Pediatrics.

[7]  N. Bar-yam.  Workplace Lactation Support, Part 1: A Return-to-Work Breastfeeding Assessment Tool , 1998, Journal of human lactation : official journal of International Lactation Consultant Association.

[8]  C. A. Johnson,et al.  Effects of methods of collection and storage on nutrients in human milk. , 1982, Early human development.

[9]  L. Grummer-Strawn,et al.  Prevalence of breastfeeding in the United States: the 2001 National Immunization Survey. , 2003, Pediatrics.

[10]  J. Riordan,et al.  Breastfeeding and Human Lactation , 1993 .

[11]  F A Sloan,et al.  Maternal recall and medical records: an examination of events during pregnancy, childbirth, and early infancy. , 1993, Birth.

[12]  G. Sethuraman,et al.  Breast milk feeding rates of mothers of multiples compared to mothers of singletons. , 2004, Ambulatory pediatrics : the official journal of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association.

[13]  P. Dimmock,et al.  A randomised controlled trial to compare methods of milk expression after preterm delivery , 2001, Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition.

[14]  Ruth A.Lawrence Robert M.Lawrence.  Breast-feeding, a guide for the medical profession , 1980 .

[15]  P. Meier,et al.  Breastfeeding in the special care nursery. Prematures and infants with medical problems. , 2001, Pediatric clinics of North America.

[16]  K. Amatayakul,et al.  Effect of storage on the creamatocrit and total energy content of human milk. , 1987, Human nutrition. Clinical nutrition.

[17]  R. Lawrence,et al.  CHAPTER 21 – The Collection and Storage of Human Milk and Human Milk Banking , 2005 .

[18]  D. van Zoeren-Grobben,et al.  Human milk vitamin content after pasteurisation, storage, or tube feeding. , 1987, Archives of disease in childhood.

[19]  E. Pugin,et al.  Clinical support can make the difference in exclusive breastfeeding success among working women. , 2000, Journal of tropical pediatrics.

[20]  A. Lucas,et al.  Randomized trial comparing the efficacy of a novel manual breast pump with a standard electric breast pump in mothers who delivered preterm infants. , 2001, Pediatrics.

[21]  M. Walker,et al.  Breast pumps and other technologies. , 2005 .

[22]  N. Boo,et al.  Contamination of breast milk obtained by manual expression and breast pumps in mothers of very low birthweight infants. , 2001, The Journal of hospital infection.

[23]  K. Shahani,et al.  The Effect of Processing and Storage on Key Enzymes, B Vitamins, and Lipids of Mature Human Milk I. Evaluation of Fresh Samples and Effects of Freezing and Frozen Storage , 1983, Pediatric Research.

[24]  M. Hamosh,et al.  Breastfeeding and the working mother: effect of time and temperature of short-term storage on proteolysis, lipolysis, and bacterial growth in milk. , 1996, Pediatrics.

[25]  W. Slusser,et al.  Breastfeeding update 1: immunology, nutrition, and advocacy. , 1997, Pediatrics in review.

[26]  B. Yawn,et al.  Maternal recall of distant pregnancy events. , 1998, Journal of clinical epidemiology.

[27]  S. Bezek,et al.  Breastfeeding promotion for the employed mother. , 1997, Journal of pediatric health care : official publication of National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates & Practitioners.